Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37632771›Full record

ArticleRheumatology (Oxford, England)2024

Patients with rheumatoid arthritis presenting with mono- or oligo-arthritis and high VAS-ratings remain the most fatigued during 5 years of follow-up.

Anna M P Boeren, Marloes Verstappen, Agnes E M Looijen, Pascal H P de Jong, Annette H M van der Helm-van Mil

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Rheumatology (Oxford, England), 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
0.7field-weighted citation impact, top 26% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 3 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Trial
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Anna M P BoerenDepartment of Rheumatology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0003-3302-6381
Marloes VerstappenDepartment of Rheumatology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-7850-5063
Agnes E M LooijenDepartment of Rheumatology, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-5280-2182
Pascal H P de JongDepartment of Rheumatology, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0001-6628-6222
Annette H M van der Helm-van MilDepartment of Rheumatology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0001-8572-1437
Leiden University Medical Center · NLErasmus MC · NL

Funding

Dutch Arthritis SocietyEuropean Research Council 714312European Union's Horizon 2020 714312
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesThe severity of fatigue in RA has improved very little in recent decades, leaving a large unmet need. Fortunately, not all RA patients suffer from persistent fatigue, but the subgroup of patients who suffer the most is insufficiently recognizable at diagnosis. As disease activity is partly coupled to fatigue, DAS components may associate with the course of fatigue. We aimed to identify those RA patients who remain fatigued by studying DAS components at diagnosis in relation to the course of fatigue over a 5-year follow-up period in two independent early RA cohorts.

methodsIn all, 1560 consecutive RA patients included in the Leiden Early Arthritis Cohort and 415 RA patients included in the tREACH trial were studied. Swollen joint count, tender joint count, ESR and Patient Global Assessment (PGA) [on a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS)] were studied in relation to fatigue (VAS, 0-100 mm) over a period of 5 years, using linear mixed models.

resultsHigher tender joint count and higher PGA at diagnosis were associated with a more severe course of fatigue. Furthermore, patients with mono- or oligo-arthritis at diagnosis remained more fatigued. The swollen joint count, in contrast, showed an inverse association. An investigation of combinations of the aforementioned characteristics revealed that patients presenting with mono- or oligo-arthritis and PGA ≥ 50 remained the most fatigued over time (+20 mm vs polyarthritis with PGA < 50), while the DAS course over time did not differ. This subgroup comprised 14% of the early RA population. Data from the tREACH trial showed similar findings.

conclusionThe RA patients who remain the most fatigued were those characterized by mono- or oligo-arthritis and high PGA (VAS ≥ 50) at diagnosis. This understanding may enable early-intervention with non-pharmacological approaches in dedicated patient groups.

Indexed as

Arthritis, RheumatoidFatigueSeverity of Illness IndexAdultAgedFemaleFollow-Up StudiesHumansMaleMiddle AgedVisual Analog Scaleearly arthritisfatigueRA

Identifiers

PMID37632771
PMCPMC11147540
OpenAlexW4386195876

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.